New CD: Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground

If you want to learn about the original "alternative" music of the early 1980s, Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground is a must-have.

The newly released 4 CD box set contains 82 tracks from a diverse group of artists including R.E.M., The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, The Replacements, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth and many more.

In addition to these commercially popular and successful artists, there are many songs by lesser-known and underappreciated acts like Throbbing Gristle, Passions and the Go-Betweens. While many of the bands included went on to enjoy mainstream commercial success, they are represented on this box set by the songs that served as their calling card or manifesto. They are the songs that show their underground roots, not their hits or best known songs.

The box, inspired in part by Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life, is also an outgrowth of and expansion upon Rhino's Post Punk Chronicles discs, now out of print. This collection includes liner notes by Karen Schoemer (music critic for Newsweek, New York Times, and others), extensive track-by-track commentary by John Srebalus, interviews with Greg Ginn (founder of SST Records) and Peter Jesperson (cofounder of Twin/Tone Records), and personal reminiscences by Tony Wilson (cofounder of Factory Records), and Steve Wynn (singer-songwriter, leader of The Dream Syndicate, founder of Down There Records, former record store clerk), and others.

Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground is a perfect introduction to a great era of music. You'll hear songs by familiar and unfamiliar artists, and I'll bet you'll find several bands in this collection that you'll want to learn more about.

Nearly everyone knows The Smiths, The Cure, New Order and other artists that broke through. There are a few artists to check out on this box set that you may not be as familiar with that are really, really good: Julian Cope, Wall Of Voodoo, Killing Joke, Happy Mondays and Descendents. Here's a complete list of the songs on Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground:

Disc 1
1. Radio Free Europe / R.E.M.
2. Going Underground / Jam
3. A Forest / Cure
4. Holiday in Cambodia / Dead Kennedys
5. I'm in Love With a German Film Star / Passions
6. I Will Dare / The Replacements

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